The Cost of Freedom
by TheLateNightWriter93
Summary: Two best friends, who would do anything for each other, find themselves locked up in the Skybox on the Ark until they're due for reviewing. When they're sent to earth instead, they'll need to learn how to survive what they might face. That's when they learn freedom isn't really free when you have to work to stay alive. ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**The Cost of Freedom**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The 100, nor do I own anything on CW.**

**A/N: This story is co-written between Lindsey (me) and Mallory McCreerian. Cover art by Mallory McCreerian. I hope you guys enjoy this!**

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

**-Wren Messer-**

"Time to do your rounds, kiddo." My father said coming up behind me and handing me a medium size metal box. I sat it on the table and popped open the latch, lifting the lid.

"What goes where today?" I asked placing four containers of moonshine and a few vacuumed sealed bags of herbs in the box. I looked up to see my mom come in holding a sheet of paper.

"Hey sweetie," she smiled at me handing me the paper. "Those are the regulars." She said adding two more containers of moonshine. "Plus two new requests on Mecha Station." I nodded as she pulled me in and kissed the side of my head. "Be careful." I smiled and looked over my shoulder at my dad who was filling up a large container with the newest batch of moonshine. I looked back down at the piece of paper and studied it for a few moments, before I folded it up and tossed it back on the table.

"Don't forget," my dad called out as I picked up the now closed box and started heading towards the door. "When you get to Cassadee's, grab that package I asked for from her father."

"No problem," I smiled and press the button that opened the door. "See you guys later!" My parents started this little business before I was born. Once I turned 13 they allowed me to start helping out by taking up the delivery job. At first I was scared when I went out on my own for my first solo delivery, but I got through it without a hitch. And since I looked so young and innocent, I wasn't bothered by anyone. My mom who used to do the rounds now immersed herself in growing her new strain of herbs, and my dad worked part time salvaging and selling parts and scrap metal along with making moonshine. With the little rations we get, it was nice helping other people who would help us in return if we asked. Which was rare, but we did have people who owe us a few favors...if we needed them.

I smirked at myself as I leaned against the door frame of my best friend and her parents living quarters and knocked a few times.

Now that I was sixteen and had a boarder knowledge of the different stations of the Ark, it was easier to make my rounds. I knew which corridors I couldn't go down on certain days. And since I was super adventurous and...nosy, I knew half of the guards schedules on Agro Station (my station) and a few of the others on different stations I did my usual deliveries on.

The heavy metal door opened to reveal my best friend Cassadee. Her auburn hair was braided to the side today. She handed me the second metal box, and turned back around to grab the thin silver case on the table, that must be the package my father wanted.

"You're late." She grumbled shutting the door behind her. She looked up at me with glaring brown eyes.

"Relax, Cass." I bumped her with my shoulder as we started our path to our first customer on the other side of Argo station. "Don't be so grumpy, I feel like today is gonna be a good day." I proclaimed, stopping at the sliding door. Cassadee pressed the button and the doors opened.

"Focus, Wren," she scolded, "We gotta get these delivered, we're already late." I rolled my eyes with a sigh and followed after her. I sometimes forget that she could be a little nervous when we went on these jobs. She didn't want to distribute illegal items across the Ark. But growing up with extremely smart parents who had their minds wrapped around their experiments kind of roped you in their work.

"Whatever you say nervous Nelly." I chuckled stopping in front of a door. I knocked twice and waited. Once the door opened we made our exchange and continued on our way. This time to Hydra station. I turned down a corridor and stopped. I was sure that the guards wouldn't be in this section of Hydra. I backed up and shoved Cassadee around the corner. I motioned for her to give me the long thin silver case.

"What are you doing?" She asked concerned, her forehead wrinkled and she peeked around the corner.

"I'm not getting you in trouble, that's what I'm doing." I frowned looking down at the boxes.

"Still feel like todays gonna be a good day?" I shook my head at her.

"Go back home and let your parents and mine know that the guard is doing surprise inspection." I looked back over my shoulder at the guards. "I can get by them, I can continue the deliveries."

"Are you crazy?" She asked.

"What do you think?" I shrugged when she rolled her eyes and walked around the corner, I made my way down the hall, trying to appear as if I wasn't caring boxes of illegal items. I looked down as I passed the guard stationed at the door to one of the rooms and continued on my way.

"Hey," the guard grabbed my arm, stopping me from walking any further. "What's in the boxes?" He asked. I frowned and looked down at them, what lie was I going to use this time?

"Supplies for Hydra station." I lied, raising my chin to seem more confident in my lie.

"Supplies for Hydra station?" He questioned, I nodded and he stepped closer to me. "Then you wouldn't mind if I take a look." My heart stopped, I should've stayed back with Cass. I backed up a step, which he took notice to and called one of the other guards. I held the boxes close to me as I turned around and started running. As if I had anywhere to go. I was on a freaking space station, where would I run? A hand wrapped around my arm and tugged me to a stop. I was so screwed, I was just thankful Cassadee got away.

"Drop the items and presents your ID card miss." I tried pulling away from him but another guard grabbed me by the shoulders from behind. I groaned.

"What's this?" I looked up at the new voice, it was commander Shumway, non-forgiving, doesn't do warnings. If you broke the law of the Ark, and a guard found you, it was warning if it was something small, but what I had on me was big and I knew I would be put on trial and sent to prison station (also known as the sky box). He grabbed one of the boxes out of my hand and opened it. "Well, these sure don't look like Hydra supplies." I glared at the man in front of me. The next box he took was the long thin silver case. He opened it up and smiled. It wasn't a nice smile, but a grin of success, I was going to the sky box for sure.

3 hours later I was standing in front of the council being judged on my actions. Councilor Kane was speaking, telling everyone I was perfectly old enough to know the laws and there for I should be sent to lock up. And now he was listing my crimes.

"Illegal salvaging, and..." he looked around and then back up at me. I frowned, and narrowed my eyes at the man. "Distribution of illegal substances, each of these crimes is punishable by death." I rolled my eyes and scoffed. Any crime, no matter how small was punishable by death. He didn't have to say it. "But since you are under the age of 18 you will be sent to lock up." I dropped my head back, why is this taking so long? "You will spend the remainder of your time until your review at 18, which is in..." He looked down at the pad in his hands, "A year and four months." He nodded at the guards, they grabbed me by my arms and towed me to the air lock section. My heart dropped when I saw my parents standing with their hands cuffed behind them. I tore myself away from the men holding me and ran to my parents.

"Mom, dad?" I looked between them, hugged them and pulled away. "How did..." I looked down. "It's my fault." I stated.

"Sweetie," my mother smiled down at me, her eyes watery. There was nothing she could say, nothing that would make my actions go away, nothing that could reassure me that none of this was my fault when in fact it was. "Be strong," she whispered holding back tears.

"We love you, Wren." My father's voice sounded rough like he was holding back certain emotions. The guards pulled me away now and the others escorted my parents in the air lock chamber. Chancellor Jaha gave the okay and Shumway pressed the big red button that opened the outside door and sucked my parents out to space. I screamed, my knees giving out, tears streamed down my face as they dragged me off to lock up.

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><p><strong>-Cassadee Carter-<strong>

**1 month later**

Ever since Wren got arrested, my parents stopped their business for a short time. No one made any orders, it was pretty quiet. We all knew why. It wasn't only because Wren was sent to lock up, it was also because her parents got floated.

Along with my parents, her parents were respected on our station (Argo station) and it was terrible to see them arrested and sent to their deaths.

Wren saved me that day. She took the fall for the illegal salvaging, which my dad was doing and the extra box of moonshine. If I would have been caught with her, my parents too would have been floated. Although, now that it's been a month, we started up the business again. It's been slow and my anxiety has spiked whenever I went on a delivery. I never been on a delivery without Wren, and I realized I missed my best friend.

She knew the guard schedules, only because she was nosy. Looking back now, she could have been sent to the sky box for hacking into the Ark's wide schedule system.

After a run in in the hall with Jasper and Monty, they asked if I wanted to work with them in the pharmaceutical lab. I agreed. I told my parents I couldn't do the deliveries any more. They understood.

"Did you check?" I asked Jasper about the stock number for the herbs in the garden. He looked at Monty and frowned.

"I thought I told you to do that?" He asked Monty. Monty's eyes widened as he looked between me and Jasper.

"Neither of you did stock before you left the lab?" I ran a hand through my hair. "Great." I bit my lip. "No one knows that it was us, so we'll be fine."

"We'll be fine." Monty repeated. Hopefully no one will notice what we took.

"Yeah," Jasper agreed.

I was on my way to the Pharmaceuticals lab the next day, when I was stopped by commander Shumway.

"Present your ID card." I hesitantly pulled my ID card from around my neck and handed it to him. He scanned it, pulling up my profile. "This is her." He looked to the guards behind him.

"What are you talking about?" I asked as the guards pulled my hands behind my back. "What's going on?"

"You're under arrest for theft." He informed me. Behind him I saw Jasper and Monty being escorted over. We were being sent to lock up. Since this only reflected me and not my parents, I couldn't help feel relieved that they would be fine. I was the only one (besides Jasper and Monty) getting in trouble.

After our trial we were sent to our personal sky box. Which got me thinking once I was alone and staring up out the window at earth. I realized, I probably wouldn't see my friends ever again. I was a month younger than Wren. If her review at 18 doesn't go right, she will be floated and I'll never get to see her again.

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><p><strong>AN: Thank you, for reading! Please leave a review.**

**- Lin and Mal**


	2. Chapter 2 1 Year Later

**The Cost of Freedom**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The 100, nor do I own anything on CW.**

**A/N: This story is co-written between Mallory McCreerian and me: Lindsey. Cover art by Mallory McCreerian. **

**Chapter two**

**Wren Messer**

_1 year later..._

I was going to be floated. I was sure of it. I knew as soon as they ruefully snapped the silver wristband around my wrist, making me hiss in pain. One of the guards ordered me to stay quiet, but I never did listen.

I walked extra slow, which earned me a shove. I started rambling about how moonshine can be used for multiple things. I even talked about a time when I was younger, I tripped a guard in the middle of the hallway and pretended like I didn't know what happened. They shoved me in a seat and tightened the restraints after buckling me in.

"I don't know guys," I shrugged and pulled on the seat belts, "I think you can make them tighter." I said sarcastically. One of the guards sneered at me and turned away. I looked around at the other kids being shoved in seats or pulling at the seat belts and yelling at the guards using harsh words. The guards placed a brunette girl beside me, my curiosity peeked and I waited for the men to move so I can see my neighbors face. The men finished and turned away climbing down the ladder and closed the hatch.

"Wren?" I turned at the sound of my name. I realized it was the girl beside me. I looked up at her and froze.

"Cassadee?" We stare at each other shocked. I frowned at her. But I couldn't say I wasn't glad to see my best friend.

"You got arrested?" I blurted out.

"Yeah, I know." She gave out a breathy laugh. "You can thank Jasper and Monty for that." She shook her head.

"You started working with them, after..." I trailed off. The image of my parents bodies being sucked out into space, forced it's way to the front of my mind.

"Yeah," she said hesitantly, "I wasn't really sure what else to do." She looked down. "I ran in to them in the hall one day and ended up talking to them." She shrugged. "They offered for me to help them in the pharmaceutical lab." I eyed her seat then looked back up at her.

"Excellent choice." I teased.

"Yeah, I kind of regretted it once they locked me up." She rolled her eyes, "But now," she smiled, "I get to be reunited with my best friend, so it's not all bad." I smiled at my best friend. Her forehead creases and she looks down then back up at me. "Wren, are you scared?"

The smile drops from my face, I looked around at the others then back at Cassadee. "Honestly?" I nod, "Yes, I am."

"I'm scared that we're not going to make it." The brunette admitted. A tear slides down her cheek.

I straighten in my seat, "Hey, look at me..." She looks up through watery brown eyes. "We're going to be fine, we're strong." I nod and smile weakly, "We'll make it."

"You think so?" She asks with a small voice, "I'm just so scared, Wren."

"We'll be fine." I repeat, more to assure myself but also to be strong for Cassadee. "We're sisters, when we're together, we'll make it through anything."

"Thanks, Wren. I'm glad you're here with me, that we're here together." I smile at her. The dropship shakes violently. I grip the restraints.

"What was that?"

"I think we just broke through the atmosphere." She answered, "Which means, we're probably going to land in the next few minutes."

Chancellor Jaha starts to speak and I glare up at the monitor. Blah, blah, blah, "If the odds of survival were better we would have sent others. Frankly, we're sending you, because your crimes have made you...expendable." I frowned.

"What a dick." I mutter.

"I agree." Cassadee scoffs at the image of Jaha on the screen. "Seriously, what's his problem? Mr. Thinks-he's-all-that-just-because-he's-chancellor." Cassadee glares up at the monitor. I look down at the ground. That's when everything starts to bang around. Sparks began to fly, smoke rose up around us filling the room. Shouts and screams ripped through the air.

Cassadee reaches over to grasp my hand, both to bring comfort to herself and me being with her. Even in the tight hold, I could feel our hands shaking. She inhaled a deep shaky breath before blowing it back out again.

I gripped her hand tighter, glad to take in the offered strength. "We'll be fine." I whispered. The dropship jerked again and hit something hard. Everything went silent. "Listen," I patted Cassadee's shoulder. "No machine hum."

"We made it." Cassadee breathed, "Wren, we're on Earth!" She says excitedly. "We should probably go down to the lower level to find the way out of here." I nodded, hurriedly popping the buckle that held me against the seat. I jumped up and noticed the difference in gravity.

"So weird," I commented as I shuffled on my feet. I looked up at Cassadee who undid her buckle and moved to stand up next to me.

"Hurry, let's go!" She shook her head, grabbing my hand and pulled me towards the ladder that everyone else was trying to climb down. People were pushing and shoving each other to get in the front.

I shoved a boy out of the way. He gave me a dirty look and I blocked him from going down the ladder. "Watch yourself," I warned him. "Go!" I pointed towards the ladder looking up at Cassadee.

She moves toward the ladder, taking cautious steps towards the bottom to ensure she wasn't stepping on anyones fingers. But quick enough that she didn't hold up the line of people following her. I followed in suit, the boy above me who I had pushed out of the way, tried to step on my fingers while laughing.

"You're an asshole!" I shouted at him and dropped down next to Cassadee. "I swear," I said crossing my arms glaring at the boy who was now shoving his way through the crowd. "I'm going to punch that kid in his face." She laughed and I turned my glare on her.

"I don't think that's a very good idea, Wren." She pointed at the guy, "Look at the way he's built. You'd probably punch him and he'd have you knocked out before you could say whatever other insulting name you can think of." She shook her head. "He seems pretty intimidating. Just leave him be. We need to make sure we survive now that we're down here, let's not start making enemies."

I bumped my shoulder against hers, "I guess I should listen to you." I laugh, "But you can't possibly have that little faith in me!" I throw my hands up. "I'm short and thin, I can get around him." I joke holding up my fists.

"Sure you can," Cassadee jokes back, shoving her palm against my shoulder. "You're such a badass!"

"You got that right!" I laugh and start pushing through the crowd.

Just as we made it to the front, I noticed a boy standing over by the door to exit the dropship. He started yelling at people to get back. He moves over to pull the lever that will open the door.

"Idiot," I mutter at the same time someone shouts.

"Stop!" I look over to see a blonde coming down the ladder in a rush. She shoves through the crowd. "The air could be toxic." She steps closer to the boy holding the lever.

"If the airs toxic, we're all dead anyway." He remarks shutting the blonde up. I watch as a brunette runs over to the boy and hugs him. They speak for a moment. People started saying little things around us.

"That's Octavia Blake, the girl they hid under the floor." A few more speak after that and the siblings reunite.

He pulls the lever down, opening the dropship door. Every ones earlier whispers grew silent. Everything was so bright and green. The air that rushed in was cool and smelled sweet. The brunette walks out slowly. I grab Cassadee's hand and squeeze. Octavia jumps off the end of the dropship door and throws her hands in the air.

"We're back bitches!" She yells. I smile widely and start to rush out towing Cassadee behind me.

**-Lin and Mal**


	3. Chapter 3 We're On Earth

**The Cost of Freedom**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The 100, nor do I own anything on CW.**

**A/N: This story is co-written between Mallory McCreerian and me: Lindsey. Cover art by Mallory McCreerian. **

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><p><strong>Chapter Three<strong>

**Wren Messer**

"Jeez, Wren." Cassadee huffed, "How is it that I'm struggling to keep up with you when I'm the one with longer legs?" She asks while laughing at my excitement. I let go of her hand and jump off the side of the dropship door. Everyone running around and jumping, whooping and shouting in excitement.

"I'm going to ignore that." I say looking up at my best friend. "You know why?" She jumped down and walked up beside me. She raised an eyebrow at my question and smiled. "Because we're home!" I stick my hands out and twirl around.

She smiles and takes a deep breath. Never had we imagined Earth to be like this. The fresh air was something none of us has ever experienced on the Ark. It felt good to be home. I close my eyes and stood there a moment soaking in the suns warmth, breathing in the sweet air.

"I don't think I've been this happy in a long time." Cassadee says softly, making me open my eyes and look at her.

"I don't think I've ever been this happy." I twirled around again with my arms in the air. Everything felt like a dream. All the vibrant green of the trees and plants, the bright pale blue sky above us, and now all the life we're bringing to it. It was beyond words. "Maybe except for that one time I tripped that guard and almost got detained." I laugh, "I can't believe he bought the lie that I didn't see where I was going."

"I remember that." She laughed, "He would watch you every time he walked by you in the hall and would give you the coldest glare I've ever seen." She held her sides, "It was actually pretty funny."

I turned around and looked up at the mountains, my face dropping. "I wish my parents could see this." I said sadly, blinking away tears. "They would flip over all this material." I half heartedly joked.

Cassadee pulled me into a hug. "I miss them too, Wren." She whispered. After a few moments she spoke up again, "What you need is a distraction." She declared, "Let's go see what we can do to help around this place."

I take a deep breath, "A distraction sounds nice." I smiled and looked around, "What do you have in mind?"

Cassadee smiles and looks around the area. "What about her?" She said pointing to a petite blonde, the same one who yelled about toxic air before Bellamy opened the door to the dropship. She was just standing off to the side of the door to the dropship. "She looks friendly enough." Cassadee shrugs, "We could go see if she needs help with anything or we could go find Monty and Jasper." She continued giving me a little wink when she mentioned Jasper. "I'm sure they've already managed to get themselves into some kind of trouble and probably need us to come and bail their asses out." She laughed crossing her arms.

I looked away at the mention of Jasper, trying to hide the blush that was creeping up my face. "Yeah," I nodded, "We should go find them."

"Let's go!" She insists grabbing my hand and dragging me to search for the two trouble makers.

We find Monty and Jasper walking towards the dropship door. I grab Jasper's arm, tugging him to a stop. He turns his head and looks down at me. "What's the rush goggle boy?" I tease.

"Wren?" He looks taken back, like I've grown a second head. He eyes me, not in an odd way but like I've changed somehow. For the better, at the look in his eyes. I frown and look at Cassadee.

"Hey, Jasper. Hey, Monty." She greets, "We we're just looking for something to do." She shrugs sticking her hands in her pockets. "We thought we'd come and keep the two of you out of trouble." She smiles at the mock offended looks on their faces. "What are you guys up to?"

Before one of them could answer, I speak up. "I have an idea!" I announced with a mischievous smile. "We should go exploring." Jasper smiles down at me, I smile back biting the inside of me cheek to keep the blush from forming. "What do you think, Cassadee?"

"I think that sounds like fun." Her smile falters, "We should be careful though, we don't know what's out there." I link my arm with hers and sent a wink towards the boys.

"Relax, Cas," I started walking, "It'll be fun!"

"What are we waiting for then?" She asked, "Let's go exploring!"

We walk up behind the blonde and tall dark skinned boy, both looking over a map. "Cool," I smile looking over the blondes shoulder. "A map." Jasper looks down at me.

"Can I get a bar in this town? I'll buy you a beer." We laugh, the taller boy who was standing next to Clarke shoves him away. Before I could say anything someone speaks up.

"Hey!" I look over at the voice, "Hands off of him. He's with us." I roll my eyes and lean towards Cassadee.

"Murphy," I mutter.

"Oh, look who it is." He says, amusement clear in his voice. I turn my head towards him with a sigh and cross my arms. "How are you doing, little red?" I narrow my eyes at him. I haven't heard that little nick name in a long time.

"Seriously, Murphy, go and talk to someone who actually cares!" Cassadee sneers at him and gives him a look that warns him to back off, which he brushes off and takes another step closer to me.

"You don't like me now?" Murphy asks looking down at me with a half smirk on his face. I frown, I really didn't want to dig anything up, especially since I was in an awesome mood just moments ago.

"Back off, Murphy." I warn in a low voice.

"So you're suddenly the ice queen now, are you?" He says somewhat defensively, but I think I'm the only one that hears the small amount of hurt in his tone. I rolled my eyes, he had no reason to be upset, if anything I had all the reason in the world to be upset at him. But I didn't want to think of anything between us right now. I step forward, getting in his face.

"What made you think I ever like you?" I asked, my tone just a little bitter.

He shrugged looking down at me with piercing blue eyes, "I don't know," he breathes, his breath fanning across my face. "Maybe when I did this..." He ran his hand up the side of my thigh. That kicked me awake. I shoved him hard away from me. He stumbled back in to his crowd of followers.

"God Murphy, you're such a perv!" Cassadee shouted making me remember there was a group of people around us. "Keep your hands off my best friend!"

"What?" Murphy pretended to be innocent; he wiped off his jacket and looked from Cassadee back to me. "I'm just having a little fun." He laughed making his goons chuckle behind him.

I smirked, "Who said you're fun?" He glared down at me.

"Seriously, just go and bother someone else, Murphy. None of us really want to put up with your shit." Cassadee informed him.

"Relax," Wells tried to calm everyone down, I stood my ground glaring daggers at Murphy. "Let's just try to figure out where we are." Wells continued. The tall dark haired boy- Bellamy- walks up, his sister beside him.

"We're on the ground. Is that not good enough for you?" Bellamy asks. Murphy smirks. I narrow my eyes at them.

"We need to start looking for food. That'll be a lot easier once we know our location on the ground." Cassadee says directly to Bellamy. "What called up your abs and died Mr. Angry?" I bit my lip, the sarcasm was strong. Bellamy didn't say anything, he struggled to keep the surprise off his face.

Wells sighed, "We need to find Mount Weather. You heard my father's message. That has to be our first priority." I rolled my eyes.

"Screw your father." I smirked.

"Your father is the reason that we're down here." Cassadee pointed at Wells. "He sent us down here to die!" Wells lips formed into a thin line, clearly frustrated. Clarke stepped up.

"We need to get to Mount Weather. Not because the chancellor said so, because the longer we wait the hungrier we'll get and the harder this will be." I frown at her, I knew she was right, but I couldn't help but think of my parents being floated. I didn't want to help these people save the people on the Ark who thought they were high and mighty. But she did have a point.

"I got a better idea," Bellamy spoke up, "You two go, find it for us. Let the privilege do the hard work for a change." He smiles.

"Who made you in charge?" Cassadee snapped, frustrated at the bossiness of the man in front of us.

"You think this is funny?" Wells asks.

"Look at this everybody," I stepped forward, my arms falling to my sides. "Chancellor of Earth." Laughter goes around.

"Why don't we all just go and get the food and quit arguing about it." Cassadee waved her hands, "We're all down here for the same reason!"

Murphy goes and trips Wells, "I thought that was pretty funny." He laughs, I shoved Murphy in the shoulder. I may have not like Wells, but I didn't want to see the kid get hurt.

"Back off, Murphy." I step forward, "Kids got one leg. Wait until it's a fair fight." Murphy glowers down at me. He huffs.

"See you around, little red." His goons chuckle behind him. The crowd starts to break up. Cassadee walks up next to me.

"What?" I ask turning to see the stern expression on her face. I place my hands on my hips, "He's an ass." I state, pushing back old memories.

"Are you sure you want to make that criminal your enemy?" Cassadee asks crossing her arms. I was almost positive Murphy would never really be my enemy. Sure I hated him, like a lot, but he would never hate me that much.

"They're all criminals." I inform her, gesturing to the many people littering the area. "I'm bound to get in a fight with one of them." I shrug. I walk over to the blonde, "So, Mount Weather. When do we leave?" I ask, a half smile on my face.

"Right now." She says standing up from tending to Wells injured ankle. I look back at Cassadee with an excited smile.

"How the three of you going to carry enough food for a hundred?" Wells inquires. Cassadee turns around and spots the two dorks we were talking too originally before Murphy happened. She grabs them by the hood of their jackets and drags them over.

"Five of us." Cassadee states.

Octavia walks up, "Sounds like a party." She stands next to me. "Make it six." She claps. Bellamy came up behind her.

"Hey!" He looks around at us, then down at Octavia, "What the hell are you doing?"

Cassadee smirks at him, "We're going for a walk." I chuckle at the look on Bellamy's face. He looks down at Octavia.

"I'm going, Bell." Octavia looks up at her brother. He huffs crossing his arms.

"Okay, let's go." Clarke says. Everyone starts walking away, Clarke leading, Octavia just behind her and Monty and Jasper not far ahead of us.

Cassadee watches as Bellamy walks away. She bumps my shoulder, "That dude really needs to take a chill pill," Cassadee leans into me, "Seriously." I shake my head and look forward at Jasper. I turn my head and notice Murphy staring at me from not far away.

"I know a few people who need to take a chill pill." I say, turning to look up at her. "One in particular." I laugh nodding my head towards Murphy. We follow the others. I ignore the stare Murphy is burning into my back.

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><p><strong>-Lin and Mal<strong>


	4. Chapter 4 The Beauty of Earth

**The Cost of Freedom**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The 100, nor do I own anything on CW.**

**A/N: This story is co-written between Mallory McCreerian and me: Lindsey. Cover art by Mallory McCreerian. **

**P.s: I'm sorry these are coming out so slow. It's just the both of us are busy with other things. I promise we have written other chapters out that I just need to edit so I can put them up here. This story is diverging off the shows path in chapter 6, I just got to get over this finding out there's grounders first lol. So, yeah, don't worry this story isn't going anywhere. Plus, I don't know about you but even though I think Murphy is an asshole, I like him. **

**Chapter 4 The Beauty of Earth**

_Wren Messer_

We had been walking now for some time. Not quickly, because all of us were distracted by the beauty that surrounded us. The trees were tall, breaking slightly to reveal the bright sunny sky. Streams of light shone down creating patterns on the forest floor, and flowers littered the area.

Everything was so distracting and we were all in awe. Except for Clarke who had a look of determination on her face, walking way ahead of us. Jasper walked over a raised mound and picked a purple flower off an over grown bush. He slowed down and waited for Octavia before placing the flower in her hair. I scrunched my face up. I wasn't jealous of Octavia...nope.

"That my friend," Monty pointed at the two as we started walking over the mound. "Is game." He smiled, proud of his best friend.

"That, my friend," I picked one of the flowers off the bush as I passed it. "Is poison sumac."

"What!" Octavia exclaimed, "It is?" She freaked out, brushing the flower out of her hair.

"The flowers aren't poisonous." Cassadee assures her, giving me a pointed look. I smirked and took a bite out of the flower, earning a glare from Octavia.

"They're medicinal." I say, "Calming, actually."

"We grew up on Argo station." Cassadee informs, "Our families grew all the pharmaceuticals on the Ark." I flinched slightly at the mention of my parents and turned my head to avoid the subject.

"This place is beautiful." I say loudly enough to ensure the subject changes.

Cassadee gives me a knowing glance, picking up on the meaning behind the subject change. "I knew it was beautiful from the pictures that they showed us in Earth skills," she takes a deep breath, looking up at the trees. "But actually being here to see it, in person, makes it so much more real. It's incredible."

"Hey, guys!" Clarke calls back, clearly irritated that we were so far behind. "Would you try to keep up?" She warns.

"Come on, Clarke." I breathe, hopping down off a log. "How do you block all this out?"

"Yeah, Clarke." Cassadee walks up beside me. "Just take one minute to take it all in." She gestures around us. "It's Earth for crying out loud, take a break."

"Aren't you wondering why we haven't seen any animals?" Clarke asks stopping and turning to face us. "Maybe it's because there are none." She shrugs, "Maybe we've already been exposed to enough radiation to kills us."

"Sure is pretty though." I chuckle crossing my arms looking up at the blonde.

"Come on." She glares and turns around to keep walking ahead of us.

"Someone should slip her some poison sumac." Octavia mutters. I laugh.

"Seriously." Cassadee grins, "Why don't you live a little and just take it all in instead of worrying about being killed by radiation?" She asks, but the blonde just shakes her head.

"Buzz kill." I mutter, walking a little faster. I look down at my wristband and picked at it, pulling at the clasp on the side. "Stupid thing." I flick the little black screen.

"Wren, what are you doing?" Cassadee asks when she sees what I'm up to.

"This thing is annoying." I try pulling at the clasp again. "I don't understand why I need it." I grumble.

"So the selfish dicks on the Ark can know that it's safe to come down." Cassadee frowns, "Not sure why they care anyways, they sent us down here to die because we're 'expendable'." Cassadee retorts, practically spitting out the last word.

I raised my hand in the air, flipping off where ever the Ark might be. "A bunch of assholes." I laugh bitterly. "I don't want to help them; I don't have anyone left in that stupid hunk of metal." I sneer, dropping my hand to my side.

"I'm not the biggest fan either," Cassadee admits, "But wouldn't we be condemning ourselves to our deaths from lack of proper health supplies and such if they think we're dead and don't come down." She gives me a look, "Let alone the other people that they're going to sacrifice to preserve oxygen," she paused and stopped. "People like my parents..."

I frown remembering the people that were like a second set of parents to me. I look up at Cassadee and gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry." I stop walking and look down at my wristband, "It's just, I hate them, Jaha and Shumway, I just..." I look away unable to continue, "I won't take it off." I say softly, "I promise."

"Thanks, Wren." She smiles at me, "I'm not sure what I'd do if I was down here without you."

"You would have been lost forever without my guidance." I place my hand on my chest, trying to lighten up the conversation.

Cassadee laughs, "Probably." She grins, "But I actually think you'd be the one lost without me." She adds while sticking out her tongue jokingly.

"Oh, I don't know," I shrug, "I'm pretty good at Earth skills." I laugh.

"Since when?" Cassadee laughed even harder, so hard that a loud snort interrupted her laugh breaking my false glare. The two of us exchanged a glance before dissolving into another fit of laughter.

"Hey!" I point at her, "I was top of my class before lock up!" I mock glare at my friend.

"And who helped you study?" She placed her hands on her hips, "Actually, who was the one to get to study? You couldn't keep focused for the life of you."

"If I remember correctly," I squint, "It was only two classes I needed help in." I point out, "And, it's not my fault I get distracted by my little projects."

Cassadee can't help but laugh again. "Sure, put the blame on your 'little projects'."

"Shut up!" I mock offense. Monty comes up in front of us.

"What's taking you guys so long?" He asks.

"We're drinking tea and eating cookies, what does it look like we're doing?" Cassadee answers sarcastically. He gives her a confused look. "What?" She asks, "I read about it in a book once. Don't judge me!"

I cover my mouth, trying to hold back the bubble of laughter that so badly wanted out. "We're coming, Monty, don't worry." I held my breath and looked at my crazy best friend. I slapped her shoulder.

"What?" She asks, "He asked. I answered." She smiled.

"I think your sarcasm was too strong." I say shaking my head, "You confused the poor boy." I say patting Monty's shoulder; he rolls his eyes at us.

"I will never understand the two of you." He shakes his head, "It's like you two have your own language."

"That's exactly how we feel when it comes to you and Jasper." Cassadee points out. "Seriously, what's up with the self-high-five thing?"

I nod from beside her, "See you're the odd ones to us when we see you two together." I laugh. We walk up behind Clarke, Jasper and Octavia. Clarke turns around and hushed us. I scoff but stop talking when I see a deer picking at the grass in the meadow in front of us. I tap Cassadee's shoulder and point to the tan deer.

"No animals, right Clarke?" Cassadee whispers toward the blonde. We move closer to where the rest of them are crouched low, just watching the creature as it grazed. I move to take a step closer and end up snapping a twig under my boot.

The deer growls and its head pops up revealing a second grotesque head on its left side. All of us gasp and jump back staring at the deformed creature. We watch as the deer looks away and jumps through a lining in the trees running away from us. I stand up and turn to the group.

"What the hell was that?" I ask in disbelief, shock evident on my face.

"I'll tell you what that was," Cassadee stands up in a hurry, "Just gross, that's what it was!" She answered scrunching up her face in disgust of the mutated creature we had just seen.

"That, right there," Clarke points out, "Is why we need to hurry." She starts to walk off.

I turn back around, partly grossed out by the deer and partly fascinated. "Do you think it's safe to eat?" I ask looking over my shoulder.

"Eww, Wren!" Cassadee slaps my shoulder, "Didn't you see it?" She asks, "It had two heads. Why would you even consider thinking about eating it?"

"Seriously, Wren." Jasper shakes his head.

"What?" I ask holding up my hands, "I haven't eaten since yesterday!"

"She has a point," Octavia crosses her arms. "What if it takes longer than expected to get to this 'Mount Weather'?" She asks.

"We'll starve before we reach the stupid mountain!" I point towards the mountain in the distance, "I'm just saying, it was thought." I shrug.

Cassadee rolls her eyes. "Then what are we waiting for?" She grabs my arm and begins to pull me towards the direction Jasper, Clarke, and Monty is standing in. "Let's get to the damn mountain!" Octavia follows behind us. I huff, ignoring the growl in my stomach.

**A/N: So guys I thought I should share one of my favorite moments of The 100. It's the part where they land and Octavia walks out of the dropship and then yells "we're back, bitches!" And then everyone runs out and celebrates being on earth. Yeah. My favorite moment is 'the hug'.**

**-Lin and Mal**


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